Article orienting mechanism



Aug. 26, 1947. s.'T. CARTER 2,426,433 ARTICLE OR IENTING MECHANISM Filed M ayB, 1945 3Sheets-Sheet 1 S SheetS-Sheet 2 I .0 6 r-v-M Q x m w 3% w g- 94 s. T. CARTER ARTICLE ORIENTING MECHANISM F iie'd May 2, 1945 Aug. 26, 1947.

s. 1'. CARTER ARTICLE ORIENTI'NG MECHANISM Filed May 2; 1945 v a sheets-sheet s VIII/17111111171111,

i atenteci Aug. 26, 1947 U N1 .T'ED STATE NT 0F F ICE 2,426,433 Y ARTICLEORIENTINGMECfiANISM- SidneyT. Garter, Worcester; 'Massiirassignor to Economic Machinery Company; Worcester, Mass acorporation ofMassachusetts ApplicationMay 2, 1945, Serial No. 591x517 This: invention .pertains; :to labeling" machines and relatessmore: particularly. to. aniimproved; spotting or=orienting1 mechanism operative to turn: the articlez'whichiisvito be labeledssmas to insure application of the label at a predeter mined: point .OILiLthB peripheral .surface I of the: article: xwhil'esofimore. general utility :the invention is iprim'arily intended to insure properorientation for labelireception of. ax-bottleprovide'dl'withia spotting-element,irib, boss-or tear drop? :on'rits peripherals surf ace.

. Inzcustomary tapparatusi of this type the' bottom ofzfthe bottle rests upon a conveyor which moves .it along a? predetermined path past the spotting smecha-nism: and .the latterv includes means ioperative. rapidly to .rotate the bottle aboutiits own .axisranda ".stop 1 which is engaged by the spottingrelement f: the .rotating bottle: and'lwhi'ch thus; stops rotation .of theabfottle with the-spotting elementratiaidefinitepredetermined point, .SuCh'It-hEtt when -tl:1e. spotting element is retracted fzand vthe "bottle is advanced to .the labeling'sta'tion thexlabel. issapp'li'edilatzthe.desired point;

Since modern labeling -machines operateuat high speeds often:- exceedi'ng fiil 'cycles perminute, the time xavail'able 'tor operation of th'e spotting mechani'snnisverylilimited and accordiingly I the :rotativespeed oil the bottle must be very l greate Thus the spottirig element encounters'the stop-while moving at high velocity; i This frequently results in i breaking cor: chipping the spotting element or :cra'ckingithe "b'ott1e,:or in the a rebound of the bottle from' the stop which 7 impairs th'e :accurac'yiofi labeling;

To avoid these diffi'ciulties it v as: heretofore been proposed to apply a brake rotatin'g article,-inresponse tothe impact of tie-spotting projection against a :brake controllin 'feeler sor detector element; or alternatively,' :in arespons'e". to the action cf 'a 'ieeler or detecton to apply a positive stop to the "article rotating device W hilethese 'latter constructions d o substantially eliminate "danger-of breaking the artiele orovertravel of=the article, they-; -may' tail at times to'-: terminate the rotation or the 1 aI-ti('i1e-- at exact'ly' the desired-point; with consequent -misplacinggof thelabel. 3

In accordance with thepresent-inventiom accuracy-is assuredari'd breakage 0f --'the article 1; substantiallyprevented by first imparting to the article a very highrotative speed and2then, in responsetothe impaet of--the -spottin'g: element-ag-ainst=-a feeler"device, sudden-ly reduci-ng- -1-6.='Claims.- (Cl. 19833-).

.2v safe':-to.:allqiv lthe'- spotting projection to come intoiicontact'withra fixed stop.

.Th'uaxthe principal. objectof .thezpresent invention is; vtofprovide; novel spotting means'capablexofcefiective. operation regardless of the speert-ro'f i'th'e zlabelin'g. machine, and :which substantially eliminates breakage oi'the spotting .elementcortbottle;or the rebound of thebottle fromifithenstop. element; .a;further object being a: tozprovidierspotting. mechanismicapable of rotatingiihezbcttle atisufiici'ent;.angularvelocity'to insure;ipropercorientation: regaifdless' of the speed of:itliealabeiing;machine;;bnt:whichinsures gentle contacteof the.:1spotting:element-With a fixed stop a thenebyepo'sitiveht tOIStOD .rot'ationrof the desired orientation and? to avoid: damage. and rebound.

'G'then :and :further obj ects and advantages of the; inventioniwill :be; pointedfoiit L in i the following :more: detailed description and :by reference tOTiLtBIB :zaccompanying drawings wherein vla'hgil eis".ai fragmentaryxend elevation of the apparatus :oftvthe present invention showing it associatediwith :a conveyor, .the .zlatter-tbeing indicatedin vertical transverse section;

zrEigeilis'. a zfragmentary'gside elevation to-larger sea'le ishowing a friction; drivemecha-nism forming: an selement of i'the apparatus;

-Fig.1:3:isva;fragmentary-horizontal section, substantially on the line 3-3 of Figshbut tolarger scale;.'

4 is eazfragmentary. vertical section substanally on?therline i -kofsfilig; 3., but 'to' larger scale,..iand.

. Figs." 5.:to358iinclu'siVe rare diagrammatic :plan views; partlyrbroken: away .andzin' horizontal section,-.;'showing various stagesaiin thexoperation of orienting; an article;

' Tillie: patentTtdEssen No. 2222,2563, dated :No- VemberEQII-WIO; discloses article-orienting mechanismzof -the general type EtO-WhiGh the present invention:pertainscarrdwmay be :referred to for such iurtheriidetailsiriof:construction asiare not herein-ffully-illustrated.

.1:Referring: tozthe:idrawings; the numeral l designates .the basewframe" :oftthe orienting mechanismrbfithe-zpresent invention. This -base supportsean: upright :ZrWhi-chcarries the stationary railss3' oicithe :zionveyor alongwhich-the articles to'fbesorientedyxfor' instance b'ottles B,--are moved intenmittentlylby; means-of :a'feed: bar 4.-

aatqioppositeasi'dcs ioi the upright or-standard 2, supporitingtmembers 5 sand d-are fixedly mounted upon )the-Jrbase "It, :the --member--5 being provided with: arhorizontal ig'uideway for the :horizonta-lly thespeedof-rotation-so mu'chthat it becomes dbtniovable 'slidei'l'which supportsthe-article stop ping means, while the support 6 is provided with a horizontal guideway for the horizontally moving slide 8 which carries the article-rotating mechanism.

The frame I has bearings for a power driven shaft 9 on which are mounted cams l and II, which respectively engage rollers l2 at the inner ends of bell-crank levers l3 and I4. These bell-crank levers are fulcrumed on the frame at the points and I6 respectively, the lever [3 having an upwardly directed arm I! and the lever l4 having an upwardly directed arm l8. The upper end of the arm I! is connected by a pin H] to a slotted lug projecting downwardly from the slide 8, while the upper end of the arm I8 is connected by a pin 29 to a slotted lug projecting downwardly from the slide 1. With this construction, rotation of the shaft 9 causes the bellcrank levers l3 and 14 to be rocked simultaneously in opposite directions and thus to move the slides l and 8 inwardly toward each other and outwardly away from each other in properly timed relation. The contour of the cams I!) and if necessary to produce this relative motion of the slides l and 8 is well within the province of the mechanic skilled in the art andis not herein specifically illustrated.

The support 6 is provided with a bearing at 2! for a horizontal shaft 22 having at one end a pulley 23 embraced by a belt 24 receiving driving power from any suitable source for rotating the shaft 22, the latter being provided with a splineway 36 which receives a key or spline carried by a beveled gear 28 turning in a bearing in a bracket 29 carried by the slide 8. The gear 28 constantly meshes with a beveled gear 21 fast to the lower end of a vertical shaft 26, the lower end of which turns in a bearing carried by the slide 8. By reason of the construction just described, the shaft 26 is driven by the shaft 22, regardless of the position of the slide 8. The slide 8 carries an upstanding bracket 3| provided with an overhanging portion 32 at its upper end in which is a bearing for the upper end of the shaft 26. This overhanging portion 32 of the bracket 3| also has bearings for the upper ends of a pair of horizontally spaced, vertical shafts 33 and 34, respectively, whose lower ends turn in bearings provided in the slide 8.

The slide 7 also has an upstanding bracket 35 provided with an overhanging portion 36 having a bearing for the upper end of a vertical shaft 3'! whose lower end turns in a bearing in the slide 1.

The shaft 26 (Fig. 2) carries a friction-clutch driving mechanism 38. This mechanism comprises the clutch disk 39, splined to shaft 26 and which is urged downwardly axially of the shaft by a coiled spring 49 whose upper end abuts a collar 4|. This collar is adjustable vertically of the shaft 26 by means of a nut 42. By turning this nut the spring 49 may be compressed more or less and thus the pressure exerted by the clutch disk 39 against its cooperating part may be varied and thus the force transmitted by the clutch mechanism may be varied at will. One or more friction disks are interposed between clutch disk 39 and the upper face of the cooperating coaxial clutch member 43, the latter being loose on the shaft 26. The member 43 is rigidly secured to or integral with a ratchet wheel 44 and also with a spur gear 45 having a'hub portion 46 which rests upon the upper surface of the slide 8. The spur gear 45 constantly meshes (Fig. 3) with pinions 41 and 48 fixed to the shafts 33 and 34 respectively. The gears 4'! and 43 are 'part of the shaft 315.

provided with hub portions 49 (Fig. l) to which are secured friction rolls 5c and 5!, respectively, formed of any suitable friction material, for example rubber, synthetic rubber, felt, or the like, and which are designed to bear against the peripheral surface of the bottle B so as to rotate the bottle in the direction of the arrow A (Fig. 3).

A vertical shaft 52 (Fig. 4) is secured at its upper end in an opening in the portion 53 (Fig. l) of the bracket 3! and at its lower end in a suitable opening in the slide 8. On this shaft 52 there is mounted to turn a housing 54 (Fig. 4). This housing has a horizontally elongate cylindrical chamber 55 in which slides the elongate shank portion 555 of a pawl member W. This shank portion 56 is furnished with an elongate slot 58 for the reception of the shaft 52 and its rear end has a close sliding fit to form a piston 59 in the chamber 55. A compression spring 68 within the chamber 55 bears at its left-hand end against the piston 59 and at its right-hand end against a cap 6! having screw-threaded engagement with the housing 54 and constituting an end closure for the chamber 55. A small port 62 provides communication between the chamber 55 and the interior of a reservoir R defined by a cylindrical casing 83 secured leak-tight to the member 54 and preferably having a removable cap 64. A drain passage 65, provided with a ball check valve 65, leads from the lower part of the chamber 55 through thesubstance of the housing 54 and opens into the lower part of the reservoir R. The chamber 55 is filled with some liquid, for example oil, and in effect constitutes a dashpot to retard the movement of the piston 59 toward the right. As this part 59 moves toward the right, the oil is caused to flow up through the port 62 into the reservoir R, the size of the port 52 determining the speed at which the piston may thus move to the right. Return movement of the fluid which is thus forced up into the reservoir is facilitated by the drain passage '55, the ball 66 lifting'freely to permit reverse flow of the fluid back into the chamber 55 but preventing its down flow through the passage 65.

A spring 6'! bears against the side wall of the housing 54 at the right-hand end of the latter, the other end of the spring engaging a fixed abutment 68 carried by the slide 8. The spring 61 thus tends to swing the housing 54 in a clockwise direction, so as to engage the pawl El with a tooth of the ratchet wheel 44.

The housing 54' is provided with a cam follower roll 79 turning about a vertical axis and designed at times to engage an inclined cam surface 88 formed on a block 8! adjustably secured to the side of the support 6.

Fixed to the upper part of the housing 5 adjacent to its left-hand end, is a latch member 82 having a recess 83 and a projecting latch toe 84 at the left-hand end of the recess. This toe 84 is designed to be engaged, at times, by a movable retainer 85 adjustably secured to one arm 85 of a bell-crank lever pivoted to turn on a vertical stub shaft 81 carried by the support 6. 84* tends to turn this bell-crank in a clockwise direction. This bell-crank has a second arm 88 to which is secured one end of an elongate horizontally extending abutment arm 89 whose substantially straight vertical rear surface is engaged by a pad 96 (Fig. 3) at the right-hand end of an arm 9! of a bell-crank secured to the lower This bell-crank comprises a second arm 93 to which there is adjustably secured a detector arm 94 having a feeler portion A spring T 5 designed to contact the peripheral surface of the-bottle B;

A-shaft 96, paralleltdthe-shaft 31, is fixed at its lower en-drin anopening inslide-I and at its upper end inabracket 91 fixedto theslide. An

abutment roll 98*- turns freely on this shaft. A'- stop' member 99 is adjustab'ly, attached, tozbracket 91, and has: a tip portion I00 which'isdesigned to be enga'gedbythespotting projection -P on the bottle and thereby positivelyto stop'rotation- As illustrated, the stop 193 18.

of the, bottle. spaced approximately of-arc from the-detector 95.

The operation of the mechanismis more clearly illustratedby reference tc-Figs. 3 and 5 to 8 inclusive. Justwprior: to the delivery (by the conveyor) ofthe bottle -tothe-orienting or spottingiposition, the slides 1 and" B-are moved apart by the cams lElandl I. The bottle comes torest on'the conveyor in a position such that its vertical' axis-is substantially in the vertical plane of the axesof the shafts -26 and 96. Theslides i and8 now movein-towardeach other until the friction: drive rolls 50 and 5i engagethe peripheryof the bottle; which is concomitantly engaged at its opposite side by the abutment roll-98.- The shaft 26' is being constantly rotated and thu by means of the friction" clutch mechanism-38, is turning the gear -55 'and' the pinions 4'! and 48 so that the frictionrolls are constantly turning. The shaft 2ii'is driven" at such 'aspeedthat in-- stantly the friction rolls engage the bottle, the latter is started-into'rotation :at a-high angular velocity.

At the b'eginning of: the operation, as just described, the retainer member 85 is in engagement with the latchtoetd, as shown in- Fig. 3, thus holding the pawlii'l out of engagement with the' teeth of the ratchet 44$ The clutch mechanism 38-lthus drives the gear45at substantially the same angular velocity as the shaft 26. As shown in Fig. 3,1 the spotting projection P which may be a special :teardrop.projection designeda-for thisiparticular purpose, or which maybe of any other projectingelement of the bottle,-- for example lettering or-the' like; is-nea'ring but has not yet' reached the" detector -95; In Fig. 5 the spottingfprojection"P is'shown 'in' engagement with -the'detector 95*and as having-pushed the detector radially away from the bottle." This outward movement of the detector 95 is accompanied by a swingingofthe arms9 i and Slin a clockwisedirectionaboutthe shaft 31, thus causingpthe pad'fiatobearzagainst the arm-89, thus swinging the'arm iBS-and the arm 86in a counterclockwise direction This movement removes the retainer 85- fromithe latch toe -85, enablingrthe spring ,6! to swing the housing 54 -in a clockwise direction so'aswto-cause the detent 51 to engage a tooth of "the ratchet 44:. During this movement the detent 85 enters the recess 83; As soon as the detent51' engages a tooth of the ratchet 44; the free rotationalmovement: of the latter-is thus interfered with,- and further rotational movement of the ratchet Mend-the gear 45 canonly take place as permitted by the rectilinear-recession of -the pawl 57, and as a re--- sult'ofthe slippage ot-the driven elementlafi of' the clutch device=38-relativelyto the constantly rotating drive element39. The pawl maymove to the right, as shown: in Fig; 5, against the pressure of the spring 60, and as permitted by the pawl151 permitsthegear 45 'to='turn,,but at a v erymuch" slower: rate than normal-.:. Correspjondar' ingly the rotative speed of the friction-trolls; 50

2.1'LCI'751 is -very-.muclr;reduced;fromnormab, so

(Fig.5 '7) ratchet wheel {44:1 When: the spotting projee-a tioncqP- strikes theifixed stop +08; rotatiorr ofsthe:

bottle ceasesgthe frictiomrolls 501-and-15i then; slipping One-17110100131318; The cams. It and" ,I I: are: so contoured as.:to retractthe-slidesfl and-Besoon; after: the ,:-bottle :isthus stopped, thus removing-.;;

the rolls 59, 5| and 98 from the bottle, and attire-.- sametime removing the :stop: 99ianddetector 95 moved along the :c'on'veyoritd aisubsequentzstaa tion; .for: example-'azstationat whichithedabel'l will be:applied'.

Asthe slide Bin-roves to'tnerighntheiroll 1'9'en- L gagesthe-in'clined-"cam surface so; thusswinging" the housing 54 in a couriterclo'ckwisedirection until-the retainer ispermitted to ride up over the latch member 84, thus disengaging the pawl 5Tfromtheratchet and holdingxit out'of 'e1'1 gag'ement withthe" ratchet until thebeginning of "the next cycle of operations;

The arrangement above described" thus per mitsa veryrapid initial rotation of the bottlerequisiteto lbring the spotting projection to the approximate stopping position, and then suddenlyreduces" the speed of "the bottle to a, fraction of its original speed, so' that when" the spotting projection actually engages the fixed stop thevelocity of the bottle is so small that there is no danger either of breakage or rebound.

While one desirable embodiment of the invention is herein illustrated by way of example, it. is to be understood'thatthe invention is broadly inclusive of any and all modifications falling. within the scope of the appended claims.

I'claim: v

1. Article-orienting apparatus having in combination means for conveying, successive articles each having a projecting element, means for rotating the articles at a normally high angular velocity, detecting means actuable. by the projecting element as the article rotates, and connections between the detecting means and the article-rotating means for reducing, the angular velocity of the article from its normal high velocity to a relatively. low. substantially constant velocity, and a stop engageable bythe projecting element whilelthe' article is rotating-at said lower. velocity.

2. Article-orienting. apparatus having, in .combination means for conveyin-gsuccessive articles. each having a projecting element, means, including a slip clutch comprising a driving and adriven member, for rotating the articles at a normallyhigh angular velocity, a-detector actuable by-the projecting'element as the article. rotates, and connections betweenthe detector and'the clutch operative to reduce the velocity of the driven element ofrthe clutch to a predetermined velocity less'than'its normal velocity, and a stopv engageablewith the projecting; element while the article is rotating at a velocity below its normal velocity.

3. Article-orienting apparatus having in combination means for conveying successive articles each having a projecting element, means, including a slip clutch comprising a driving and a driven member, for rotating the article at a normally high angular velocity, a detector actuable by the projecting element as the article rotates, means operative to reduce the angular speed of the driven member of the clutch while the driv- Ling member continues to turn at normal speed, and connections between the detector and said speed-reducing means operative, in response to actuation of the detector, to reduce the speed of the driven member of the clutch thereby to reduce the rotational speed of the article, and stop means operative to engage the projecting element and thereby to terminate rotation of the article while the latter is turning at the lower speed.

4. Article-orienting apparatus having in combination means for conveying successive articles each having a projecting element, means, including a friction clutch comprising a driving :and a driven member, for rotating the article at :a normally high angular velocity, a detector ac- 5. In combination in a machine for orienting articles each of which has a projection thereon, :means normally operative to rotate the article :at high angular velocity about its own axis, a substantially rigid stop engageable by the projecition thereby to terminate rotation of the article, a detector spaced from the stop peripherally of :the article in a direction from which the projecition approaches the stop, and means responsive to engagement of the detector by the projection suddenly to reduce the angular velocity of ro- 'Itation of the article to a substantially constant lower velocity, while the projection is moving from the location of the detector to the stop.

6. In combination in a machine for orienting articles each of which has a projection thereon, means including a frictionally driven element operative to rotate the article at high angular velocity about its own axis, a substantially rigid stop engageable by the projection thereby. to terminate rotation of the article, detector means spaced from the stop peripherally of the article in the direction from which the projection approaches the stop, and means responsive toac tuation of the detector means by the projection, as the article rotates, suddenly to reduce the angular velocity of the article to a predetermined relatively low velocity while the projection is moving from the detector means to the stop.

'7. In combination in a machine for orienting articles each of which has a projection thereon, means including a frictionally driven element operative to rotate the article at high angular velocity about its own axis, a substantially rigid stop engageable by the projection thereby to ter-v minate rotation of the article, a pivoted detector finger spaced a distance of the order of 10 of arc from the stop peripherally of the article in the direction from which the projection approaches the stop, and means responsive to swinging of the detector finger when contacted by the projection on the rotating article suddenly to reduce the angular velocity of the article to a predetermined relatively low velocity,- while the projection is moving from the detector toward the stop.

8. Spotting mechanism for use in a labeling machine of the kind wherein articles are ad vanced toward a label-applying station by conveyor means, each of said articles having a spotting element, and wherein article-rotating means engages the article at the spotting station thereby to bring the spotting element on the article into engagement with a normally fixed stop, characterized in having a feeler element arranged to engage the spotting element on the article before the latter engages the stop, and means, including a movable part whose maximum velocity of movement is determined by a dash-pot device, responsive to movement of the feeler element and which is operative to reduce 1e speed of rotation of the article before the spotting element encounters the stop.

9. Spotting mechanism for use in a labeling machine of the kind wherein articles are advanced toward a label-applying station by con veyor means, each of said articles having a'spotting element, and wherein an article-engaging, friction driven roll, normally driven at high speed by a slip clutch including a driving and a driven member, engages the article at the spotting station thereby to rotate the article about its own axis so as to bring the spotting element into contact with a suitably arranged stop and wherein a detector is engageable by the spotting element as the latter approaches but before it engages the stop, characterized in having means, including a sliding detent and a dash-pot for determining its maximum velocity of movement, responsive to action of the detector for reducing the angular velocity of the driven member of the slip clutch to a predetermined amount less than its normal velocity, thereby to cause the spotting element to approach the stop at a safe speed.

10. Spotting mechanism for use in a labeling machine of the kind wherein articles are advanced toward a label-applying station by conveyor means, each of said articles having a spotting projection, and wherein an article-engaging friction driven element, normally driven at high speed by a slip clutch mechanism including driving and driven members, engages the article at the spotting station thereby to rotate the article about its own axis so as to bring the spotting projection into engagement with a substantially rigid stop and wherein a detector is engageable by the spotting element as the latter approaches but before it contacts the stop, characterized in having a detent capable of retrogression at a predetermined low velocity, movable into operative relation to the driven member of veyor means, each of said articles having a spotting element, and wherein an article-engaging, friction driven part, normally driven at high speed by a slip clutch mechanism including driving and driven members, engages the article at the spotting station thereby to rotate the article about its own axis so as to bring the spotting element into engagement with a substantially rigid stop and wherein a detector is engageable by the spotting element as the latter approaches but before it contacts the stop, characterized in having a detent element capable of retrogression in opposition to a spring, and means responsive to the detector for moving the detent element into operative relation to the driven member of the slip clutch mechanism thereby suddenly to reduce the peripheral speed of the driven member of the slip clutch mechanism, while permitting it to continue to turn at a velocity below normal.

12. Spotting mechanism for use in a labeling machine of the kind wherein articles are advanced toward a label-applying station by conveyor means, each of said articles having a spotting element, and wherein an article-engaging friction driven part, normally driven at high speed by a slip clutch mechanism including driving and driven members, engages the article at the spotting station thereby to rotate the article about its oWn axis so as to bring the spotting element into engagement with a substantially rigid stop, and wherein a detector is engageable by the spotting element as the latter approaches but before it contacts the stop, characterized in that the driven member of the slip clutch mechanism is provided with peripheral ratchet teeth, a detent housing pivoted to swing about an axis parallel to that of the driven member of the clutch mechanism, said housing having therein a guideway for a detent, a detent having a shank portion sliding in said guideway and a tooth portion engageable with a tooth oi the driven clutch member, the shank portion of the detent having a piston portion sliding in a cylinder containing a body of fluid and having a delivery port, a spring tending to project the detent outwardly from the cylinder, the body of fluid in the cylinder acting to determine the rate of regression of'the detent in opposition to the spring, and means responsive to action of the detector for swinging the detent housing thereby to engage the tooth of the detent with a tooth of the driven clutch member.

13. Spotting mechanism for use in a labeling machine of the kind wherein articles are advanced toward a label-applying station by conveyor means, each of said articles having a spotting element, and wherein an article-engaging friction driven part, normally driven at high speed by a slip clutch mechanism including driving and driven members, engages the article at the spotting station thereby to rotate the article about its own axis so as to bring the spotting element into engagement with a substantially rigid stop, and wherein a detector is engageable by the spotting element as the latter approaches but before it contacts the stop, and wherein a pair of oppositely reciprocating slides support the stop and detector, and the friction drive means and its driving clutch, respectively, characterized in that the driven member of the slip clutch mechanism is provided with peripheral ratchet teeth, a detent housing pivoted to swing about an axis parallel to that of said driven member of the clutch, said housing having therein a cylindrical chamber, a piston sliding in said chamber and having a part projecting from the housing and which carries a detent tooth for engagement with a tooth of said driven clutch member, the cylinder containing a spring tending to project the piston from the cylinder and containing a body of liquid and having a leak port through which the liquid may escape, spring means normally tending to swing the housing and thereby engage the detent tooth with a tooth of the driven member of the clutch, a retainer operative to prevent such swinging of the housing, and means responsive to actuation of the detector for retracting said retainer thereby to permit the housing to swing and engage the detent with a ratchet tooth.

l4. Article-orienting apparatus having in combination means for conveying successive articles each having a projecting element, means,

including a slip clutch comprising a driving and a driven member, for rotating the articles at a normally high angular velocity, a detector engageable by the projecting element as the article rotates, speed reducing means, including a dash-pot device, for reducing the velocity of the driven element of the clutch to a predetermined lower velocity, and connections for transmitting motion from the detector to said speed reducing means, and a stop engageable with the projecting element while the article is rotating at a velocity below its normal velocity.

15. Article-orienting apparatus having in combination means for conveying successive articles each having a projecting element, means, including a slip clutch comprising a driving and a driven member, for rotating the articles at a normally high angular velocity, a detector engageable by the projecting element as the article rotates, speed reducing means operative to reduce the velocity of the driven element of the clutch to a predetermined lower velocity while the drive element of the clutch continues to turn at its normal high velocity, connections for transmitting motion from the detector to the speed reducing means, and a stop engageable with the projecting element while the article is rotating at a velocity below its normal velocity.

16. In combination in a machine for orienting articles each of which has a projection thereon, means normally operative to rotate the article at high angular velocity about its own axis, a substantially rigid stop engageable by the projection thereby to terminate rotation of the article and means, including a dash-pot device, operative suddenly to reduce the angular velocity of rotation of the article to a substantially constant lower velocity just before the projection engages the stop.

SIDNEY T. CARTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,608,119 Perchard Nov. 23, 1926 2,222,504 Essen Nov. 19, 1940 

